A Baltimore police officer told police looking for his stepson that the teen wasn’t at his home, but charging documents state that officers subsequently found the teen’s body in a hole in a bedroom wall when they searched the residence.
The stepfather is charged in an attack on a responding Anne Arundel County police officer and was denied bail at a hearing Thursday, news outlets report. Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Miller said Eric Banks Jr. had moved and hidden his stepson’s body and “made statements that he is homicidal and suicidal.”
“He admits to officers that he moved his son’s body from one location in the home, and secreted it in another, Your Honor,” Miller said. “He has shown that he is not afraid to resort to violence.”
The cause of 15-year-old Dasan Jones’ death is under investigation and will be determined by the state medical examiner, county police said.
Glen Burnie High School said Jones had just completed his freshman year in the BioMedical Allied Health program.
He was a violin player and "took great pride in his academics," the school said. Mental health counselors are available for the community.
Police responded to Banks’ home in the Curtis Bay neighborhood on Tuesday to investigate a complaint that Jones was being held against his will. At first, Banks told police Jones wasn’t there and had left his packed bags at the back door. After Banks gave police permission to search the home, officers saw a hole in the wall with a cover and Banks said it was his gun safe. Officers looked inside and saw a body, according to charging documents.
Banks was arrested and after he was handcuffed he asked to kiss his kids and have his handcuffs adjusted, then made “a clear attempt to disarm” an officer, trying to take her handgun from its holster, the officer wrote.
“Mr. Banks stated multiple times ‘you’re gonna have to end this’ as we were wrestling over the firearm,” the officer wrote. Banks was charged with assault, resisting arrest and other offenses.
At a bail hearing Thursday, Banks’ attorney asked for his client to be released to home confinement, but the judge denied bond, saying he poses a flight risk and a potential harm to himself, his family and the community. He is being held in protective custody as a potential suicide risk, officials said.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said Banks’ police powers were already suspended based on a previous incident and he was suspended without pay after he was charged with a felony. Police did not say what the previous incident was.
Banks’ wife had complained of stalking and “emotional and mental abuse” last month in a petition for a protective order from him and sought custody of their two sons and the 15-year-old. The petition was denied.
